June Tangney's Essay Condemn The Crime, Not The Person
Julie Nguyen
Kaitlin McClanahan
English 97/98
November 20, 2014
Summary and Response “Condemn the Crime, Not the Person” June Tangney’s short essay, “Condemn the Crime, Not the Person”, is about the difference between two emotions: shame and guilt. There is a problem in the court system when it comes to traditional sentences. There are people who even encourage America to look for shaming as a way to save money rather than taking care of an inmate in jail. However, Tangney states that recently, there is a realization that these cheaper ways are actually not effective. It makes the criminal’s situation worse, according to the author. The two feelings of shame and guilt are very different. I agree with Tangney’s argument because punishing a criminal should be in the fairest way with the …show more content…
The reason is because it is too expensive to take care of a criminal in jail. This is understandable because it costs a lot of money to feed someone and basically provide them a “home” to stay in for many months. The author states, “as the costs of incarceration mount and evidence of its failure as a deterrent grows, judges understandably have begun to search for alternatives to traditional sentences” (570). Especially for crimes are not heavy enough to have the criminal sentence to jail, social commentators have said shaming is a cheap solution. I strongly disagree with those social commentators. They are only thinking about the short term costs. As in accounting, this is a bad thing because the benefit is only in the beginning. It may seem like a cheaper solution, but the effectiveness is very low. This is because Tangney states, “Shamed individuals are no less likely to repeat their transgressions… and they are no more likely to attempt reparation” (570). When thinking about the long term, if the shamed criminal is going to repeat an offense, which would cost even more money in
Kaitlin McClanahan
English 97/98
November 20, 2014
Summary and Response “Condemn the Crime, Not the Person” June Tangney’s short essay, “Condemn the Crime, Not the Person”, is about the difference between two emotions: shame and guilt. There is a problem in the court system when it comes to traditional sentences. There are people who even encourage America to look for shaming as a way to save money rather than taking care of an inmate in jail. However, Tangney states that recently, there is a realization that these cheaper ways are actually not effective. It makes the criminal’s situation worse, according to the author. The two feelings of shame and guilt are very different. I agree with Tangney’s argument because punishing a criminal should be in the fairest way with the …show more content…
The reason is because it is too expensive to take care of a criminal in jail. This is understandable because it costs a lot of money to feed someone and basically provide them a “home” to stay in for many months. The author states, “as the costs of incarceration mount and evidence of its failure as a deterrent grows, judges understandably have begun to search for alternatives to traditional sentences” (570). Especially for crimes are not heavy enough to have the criminal sentence to jail, social commentators have said shaming is a cheap solution. I strongly disagree with those social commentators. They are only thinking about the short term costs. As in accounting, this is a bad thing because the benefit is only in the beginning. It may seem like a cheaper solution, but the effectiveness is very low. This is because Tangney states, “Shamed individuals are no less likely to repeat their transgressions… and they are no more likely to attempt reparation” (570). When thinking about the long term, if the shamed criminal is going to repeat an offense, which would cost even more money in